1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable terminal, and in particular, to a 2-axis rotatable portable terminal having a stopper for restricting an angle at which a sub-housing is opened.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a portable terminal refers to a device which a user carries and uses to wirelessly communicate with other parties. Portable terminals are categorized as a bar type, a flip type, and a folder type according to their configuration. Bar-type portable terminals are configured to have a bar-shaped single housing. Flip-type portable terminals are configured such that a flip or cover is rotatably mounted to a bar-shaped housing by means of a hinge device, whereas folder-type portable terminals are configured such that a sub-housing is rotatably mounted to a bar-shaped main housing by means of a hinge device so that it is foldable.
Portable terminals can also be categorized as rotation type and sliding type terminals according to their opening mechanism. Rotation-type portable terminals are configured such that two housings are rotatably connected, facing each other, whereas sliding-type portable terminals are configured such that one of two housings slides lengthwise to an open state, facing the other housing. The portable terminals described above are well known to those skilled in the art.
Such conventional portable terminals are necessarily equipped with an antenna device, a data input/output device, and a data transmitting/receiving device. As is well known, a keypad is commonly used as the data input device. The keypad is configured to input data when the keys provided thereon are depressed by a user's finger. A touch pad or touch screen is also often used. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is commonly adopted as the data output device.
The keypad used to input data has an arrangement consisting of a plurality of keys which include numeral keys, character keys, a send (SND) key), an end (END) key, and function keys, among others. There can be as many as 15 to 20 keys arranged at appropriate positions on the top surface of a portable terminal. As is well known, the keys protrude upward so that the user can input data by depressing them. In addition, conventional portable terminals are equipped with a camera lens as a photographing means to conduct video calling or to acquire an image of an intended object.
Currently, users' tastes regarding portable terminals have diversified; many users are increasingly information (i.e., internet/e-mail) oriented. It is very inconvenient, however, to communicate with conventional portable terminals using the Internet or a multimedia environment. This is particularly due to the configuration of portable terminals. In many portable terminals the data output device, or LCD, is fixed or rotatable in only one direction. Thus, a rather uncomfortable pose is required by users for communications. Moreover, there are no specific methods of implementing new designs developed for portable terminals.